On 30 July 1966, playing West Germany at Wembley Stadium England won football’s World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1930 watched by 93,000 spectators including the Queen. Another 400 million people around the world watched the keenly fought match on television. In the final moments of extra time Geoff Hurst powered home his third goal to give England a 4-2 victory and to become the first man ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

On 30 July 1746 the last executed traitor to have their head displayed on a pike (his at Temple Bar) was Jacobite rebel Francis Towneley

It was outside the Lamb and Flag pub, Covent Garden in 1679 that poet John Dryden was set upon by thugs, being beaten very close to death

The Lamb and Flag, Rose Street, Covent Garden dates back to 1627 being a favourite watering hole of Charles Dickens

Victorian publisher Joshua Butterworth left money for a ceremony at St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield to give alms and buns to poor London widows

It is thought that the ‘Window Tax’ brought about the phrase: “Daylight Robbery”, being robbed of daylight by taxation

Gieves (the name) of Gieves and Hawkes, 1 Savile Row was the inspiration for P. G. Wodehouse’s butler Jeeves, albeit spelt different

In 1251 a Polar Bear given to King Henry III by the King of Norway lived in the Tower of London and went fishing in the Thames

Cricketing legend W. G. Grace was a practising doctor who worked from his practice at 7 Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham

Early London and Greenwich Railway trains were made in the style of a Roman galley ship to fit in with the viaducts they travelled across

London’s oldest shop Twining’s in the Strand has been selling tea since 1706. Twining family home in Twickenham, Dial House is now a vicarage

One of the first (if not THE first) British suppliers of Doc Marten shoes and boots was Blackman’s, Cheshire Street, Bethnal Green

Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog. A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.

Follow that taxi !

Found a shed on Tottenham Court Road were the remains of 100 corpses victims of body snatching deposited there before being sold to surgeons

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What I’m Reading

In Search Of London by H.V. Morton H.V. Morton was one of the great travel writers, acknowledged by, among others, Bill Bryson. In Search of London is one of his best and what is particularly fascinating is the period Morton writes about – 5 years after World War II. It’s a London hugely damaged by the Blitz and struggling to recover, and for those with better knowledge of London than myself, it must be particularly interesting to compare his descriptions of particular bomb damaged locations with the same scene today.